And in modern-hellscape news:

A terribly modern grievance, I think you’ll agree. Very now.

This is where we are, people. Everyone remember where we parked.

You see, Mr Buckley wanted to “have the experience of breastfeeding.” Hence the novelty breasts. Mr Buckley is also indignant that a woman, a mother of three and a breastfeeding counsellor, might regard such ambitions as a little odd, for a man, and not entirely in the interests of the newborn child.

And so,

And as we’re in the realm of squint-and-pretend:

The term lactation is, however, doing a lot of heavy lifting. Men who pretend to be women, and who take large doses of cross-sex hormones, subsequently developing facsimile breasts, are unlikely to lactate anything adequately nourishing for a child.

Given sufficiently high doses of female hormones, and given sufficiently zealous pumping, some men can be made to secrete a substance from their nipples, albeit unreliably and in very limited quantities – but the resulting discharge is of questionable value to a newborn baby:

As Dr Maja Bowen notes here,

Or, as lawyers for Ms Sussex put it,

At which point, it’s perhaps worth mentioning that the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, where this very modern drama is unfolding, determined that Mr Buckley’s legal team “did not have to hand over medical evidence over the chemical makeup of the fluid” being forced upon his newborn child, and that such details, i.e., the facts of the matter, were “not of relevance” to claims of vilification.

Similarly “not of relevance,” it seems, are concerns that such secretions, induced by a cocktail of supposedly “gender-affirming” drugs, may have harmful effects on newborn babies, including possible heart problems and genital development.

And so, either we have a man who believes that he can secrete suitably nourishing fluids from his nipples, or a man who knows that he can’t in fact do this, but is determined to indulge his bizarre preoccupation anyway, despite the warnings of attending medical professionals, and regardless of the effect on a newborn baby:

Mr Buckley has also announced that “experiencing arousal while breastfeeding” is “nothing to be ashamed of.”

Which possibly tells us something about the motivations in play.

In academic news:

Says the website of the University Heath Service:

Much like fatness, in fact.

Weight stigma in athletics. I’d better write that one down. The site also stresses the importance of “body positivity,” which is,

Well, losing some of that excess weight would probably help on that front. Less crippling self-consciousness. Less sweating and wheezing, too. We also learn that “weight stigma” is perpetuated by language. Not, say, by being massively fat and the problems that so often follow from that.

At which point, sharp-eyed readers will notice that the direction of all this effort is away from the actual problem.

Well, again, obesity will do that. Best, then, to keep oneself in some reasonable proportion. Rather than faffing about with five-dollar bits of cardboard that make it clear just how neurotic you’ve become. As a result of being fat.

Update, via the comments:

Svh quotes this from the university’s website:

And adds,

Well, quite. And it has to be said, if you’re unwell and are avoiding going to the doctor because you can’t bear the prospect of being asked how much you weigh, this doesn’t sound like “body positivity.” Indeed, the very notion of “body positivity” will likely be of interest only to people who very much don’t feel “positive” about their bodies.

Say, on account of being fat.

And then there’s this, from the College Fix article:

Because – and I say this will love – you’re too fat for the chairs.

So, at risk of sounding insensitive, a choice comes to mind. You can either try to reorganise your every interaction with the universe – every encounter with chairs, mirrors, small spaces, stairs, and so forth – and drag everyone else into some never-ending drama in an attempt to ease your hangups – or you can, you know, dial back on the carbs and sugar and take a brisk walk.

I mean, the thing you can hope to control is not other people.

Update 2:

This seems apposite. Luana Maroja, a professor of biology at Williams College, ventures into the belly of “fat studies” and reports on what she finds:

There follows much to chew on. Including claims by supposed educators that “a healthy diet is [whatever] you like to eat,” that fat people are oppressed by dieting and by other people not wishing to be fat, and that such preferences are a form of “white supremacy.” Oh, and the desire not to be fat oneself – dubbed “fat fascism” – is all about racism and the “subjugation” of Palestinians.

Also, chairs are discriminatory and a cause of health problems. Unlike being fat.

Among the educators in question, there was, inevitably, a lot of pretending not to understand things.

Update 3:

Commenter Chow Bag quotes this,

And adds,

The participants do seem to be devoting an awful lot of effort to their word salad and contrivance – and blatant lies – all geared towards avoidance and displacement. Again, the direction of the rhetoric is away from the actual problem. They seem willing to perform almost any mental contortion in order to avoid acknowledging the obvious about themselves and their behaviour.

And so, for instance, we’re told that very fat cancer patients shouldn’t be advised to lose weight, as this is “discrimination,” an outrageous emotional injury, even though their obesity has numerous, quite serious, well-documented consequences in terms of treatment options, complications, likelihood of recovery, long-term survival, etc.

It’s not politics. It’s psychodrama. Albeit in bad political drag.

It’s tempting to invert the scenario and to imagine some gathering of the Anorexics Liberation Front. A roomful of alarmingly cadaverous young women complaining about the alienating vastness of chairs, and about how anyone concerned by the attendees’ self-harming behaviour – say, parents, spouses or children – is being oppressive and racist.

Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.

Pies and cakes available on request.

Mr Burkett tries to explain something to Cathy Young:

It means quite straightforwardly that natives have less political power, because their votes are a smaller share of the overall electorate.

Newcomers do not merely “coexist” alongside you. They form political coalitions. They vote.

Even physical space in a city is to some… https://t.co/jAoNacBKWX

— wanye (@xwanyex) June 27, 2026

For those of you without X accounts:

Needless to say, a thread ensues.

If the subject of queuing, mentioned above, should need an illustration, this grim hint of things to come may reward a revisit.

And from which, this passage seems apposite:

In the replies, regarding Ms Young, someone uses the term feigned obtuseness. Which doesn’t seem unfair.

But hey, it’s just people coexisting.

Ms Young has, of course, been baffled before.

Also, deploy the meme:

And no, it won’t be the last time.

The diamond knuckle dusters you’ve always wanted. || Always carry a spare. || Behind those high-tech specs. || Sales pattern detected. || Street panto. || Not a good place to lose forward momentum. || Incoming. || Incoming 2. || Decorum at customs. || A brief guide to vocal fry. (h/t, Elephants Gerald) || Barbecue scenes. || The thrill of early bathyspheres. || Learning is happening. || World’s loudest man. He’s Australian. || In stationery news. || Question asked. || A newcomer and a window licker. || Wall crawling. || Peeing down her leg in her friend’s shower makes her feel like a man. || “How is a moment in time stored in squishy meat?” || Thirty tonnes of antimatter dust per day. || Meet the man who collects food wrappers, 1981. || Influencer, you say. || And remember, photography is hard.

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For additional rumblings, follow me on X.

Because some things bear repeating, a few items from the archives:

Discontinued Lines.

I know. Cuckoldry. That’ll save the world.

Their Inner Loveliness.

Antifa’s Transgender Enforcement Wing bare their sweet little souls.

Inserting Diversity.

On racially incongruous casting and other wonders.

Let’s Be Alone And Unhappy.

On the difficulties of satisfying progressive women.

For those craving more, this is a pretty good place to start.

Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.